Chapter 221
After the failed operation to capture Ray, Rum cautiously re-investigated all the people who had previously investigated Ray, focusing on Gin and Vodka. Only after confirming that he really couldn't find anything did he take the opportunity to call a meeting again with several organization members who were familiar with Potts or Ray.
"...Rum clearly sent us, but Rum himself isn't showing up?"
Chianti kicked the chair in front of her impatiently.
Bourbon said sarcastically, "Who told us to have Gin here? He's the Gin who personally recruited Ray into the organization and personally investigated him to the conclusion that Ray was innocent! Although according to the latest investigation, Gin is indeed innocent, Ray wasn't found to be guilty before. What if he's an accomplice... Anyway, it's normal that Rum didn't want to come personally to avoid us being wiped out."
Chianti glanced at Gin sitting in the corner and suddenly sneered, "You're right."
Rum was already cautious, and after the incident with Lei, plus the fact that some of the meeting members were people identified by Usakabe Saiki, he didn't even want to change his appearance anymore. He simply didn't go to the meeting in person and participated via voice message.
Better safe than sorry!
Faced with Chianti's disrespectful attitude, Vodka clenched his fist and defended Gin: "You can't blame Big Brother! The intelligence team didn't find anything either."
Damn it, ever since Lei was exposed, everyone in the organization has been looking at their boss a little differently, and their attitude isn't as respectful as before... He really felt sorry for his boss!
Gin remained silent with a cold expression.
As the most suspicious person at the moment, he believes that the innocent are innocent and he disdains to explain himself, nor is he bothered to get involved in such a pointless topic.
Scotland is actually relatively neutral within the organization, so it didn't speak up for Bourbon, but instead said a few words in favor of Gin.
"Alright, alright, in that last mission, was Gin the person Ray was trying to trap? If they were really on our side, Ray definitely wouldn't have chosen that time to expose himself. After all, Ray didn't know Rum was going too. The only ones who could be considered executives were Gin and Vodka. It couldn't be that he was trying to capture Vodka, could it? Vodka clearly knew, so Gin should have known too."
Vodka almost burst into tears.
Scotland is practically the most clear-headed person in the organization right now; he even wants to swap brains with Scotland.
Ever since Ray was exposed, he has felt that his brain is not only not working properly, but also seems to be on the verge of breaking down.
I often dream in the middle of the night that my older brother suddenly asks me, "I'm going to run away, do you want to come with me?"
Waaaaah, he actually wavered in his trust in his older brother! It's all Bo Yezhai's fault!
Just then, Bourbon's phone, which was in Rum's place, suddenly rang. Everyone else in the room fell silent and watched as Bourbon answered the call.
After a few seconds, Rum's voice finally came through.
"Is everyone here?"
This was just a rhetorical question used as an opening remark; Rum had already answered it in his mind and hadn't even considered that there might be a second answer.
Then he heard Bourbon say, "No."
Rum: "..."
Vodka replied resentfully, "Potnis didn't come."
The only person who would dare to stand up Rum at a time like this is, of course, Saiki Usaba.
Rum, having been through the ordeal of Bo Ye Zaiji, quickly accepted reality, though he was somewhat confused: "Have you not been able to contact him yet, or has he refused?"
"...I couldn't get in touch with him." Vodka wiped his sweat. "My brother and I have been blocked, and he's been keeping his phone off for the past two days."
Rum was puzzled: "It's normal that you and Gin were blocked, but what about the others?"
Scotland said helplessly, "When I called, the call went through briefly, but Potts said, 'I get annoyed by snipers now,' and then blocked me."
Chianti clicked her tongue: "I don't have Potts' number at all. He doesn't seem to answer calls from strangers... But I'm a sniper too, so I'll probably get blocked as well."
"...What about Bourbon?" Rum used a process of elimination, asking the person he felt was least likely to be blocked, "Did you get through?"
Bourbon: "...Sorry, I only found out later that on the day Ray was exposed, Potts called me, but I was busy and the line was busy, so I didn't answer. By the time I found out, he had already blocked me..."
Rum was completely bewildered: "Just because of this?"
Although Vodka disliked Bourbon's constant targeting of his older brother, they were on the same side when it came to speaking ill of Bo Ye Saiki. Therefore, Vodka quickly said, "I can vouch for you, Potts is such a petty guy. If you don't answer his calls or just hang up, he'll hold a grudge! Boss Rum, why don't you try calling Potts yourself?"
Rum: "…………"
Do you think I haven't tried calling? If I could get through, would I need you to contact me? You just said his phone was off a couple of days ago, does that mean it's still on today?
Rum had suspected before that Bo Yezaki hadn't saved his number in his contacts, and when Chianti said that Bo Yezaki didn't answer calls from unknown numbers, he understood why he hadn't been able to get through... Sure enough, Bo Yezaki not only didn't keep him, the organization's second-in-command, in his phone, but he also didn't take him seriously at all...
After asking around, several people who might be able to answer the phone, including Vermouth and Akemi Miyano, all said that although they hadn't been blocked, they couldn't get in touch with him.
If we go to their door, no one will be home.
After all, Usakabe Saiki used to like to disappear, and now that Rai has run away, and this Rai knows the location of Usakabe Saiki's house, Usakabe Saiki's reason for not wanting to go home is quite legitimate.
What if he goes home to sleep for one night, and Lai, who was bullied by Usakusaiki, takes revenge and sets a fire, burning Usakusaiki to death inside?
Even without Usoya Saiki's personal explanation, everyone automatically filled in the blanks.
Ten minutes into the meeting, they'd been searching for someone without making any progress. Rum was getting frustrated: "That Potts guy is just too..."
He dared not say it aloud, lest it reach Potentis's ears and he be the one to suffer... Just look at the fate of Gin and Ray, who were openly disliked by Potentis...
Bourbon offered a timely suggestion: "This meeting seems pointless without Potts. Why don't we try having 'that person' contact Potts? Perhaps 'that person' has some other way of contacting us. If Potts doesn't even listen to 'that person'..."
Rum thought that made sense.
Although the boss previously said not to bother him with anything related to Potts, this is a special case, and it's not a trivial matter. I believe the boss wouldn't consider this a pointless disturbance.
So he contacted the boss.
If the phone is turned off, even the boss can't contact you.
The boss was silent for a moment, then slowly uttered the crucial question: "...If we can't contact anyone at a time like this...could something have happened?"
Rum: "..."
That's a good question. It seems like nobody was aware of this possibility!
Perhaps because the impression of Usuiba Saiki's madness was so profound, everyone seemed to subconsciously feel that no one could gain the upper hand in front of the mad Usuiba Saiki, plus Usuiba Saiki was always disappearing...
How can anyone tell whether he disappeared voluntarily or was forced to disappear?
Just as Rum was debating whether or not to send someone to find out where Usoya Saiki had gone, he received the latest news from the intelligence team.
I'm having some difficulty breathing. Where's my oxygen concentrator?
Although he was pretending to be an old man, he didn't really feel old at all; he was still in his prime. So why was he always feeling dizzy lately, and only able to feel a little better with oxygen?
Sigh, let's start the meeting. We can't keep everyone waiting for Potts! Every minute he wastes is ten minutes of everyone's time!
After receiving oxygen, Rum shared the latest intelligence from the intelligence team with everyone.
He activated his electronic voice changer, his voice carrying an inorganic indifference: "According to the intelligence team's investigation, Ray... is indeed an FBI agent."
The room was filled with gasps of cold air, so loud it nearly caused global warming.
Vodka's eyes widened.
Exhausted, Vodka no longer had the strength to roar; he simply muttered to himself.
Impossible, absolutely impossible, this must be a nightmare. How could that brat, Bo Yezaki, be so accurate...?
That wretched Ray! You betrayed my trust! I was so wrong about you!
Gin couldn't help but frown: "Where did this information come from? Are you sure?"
Rum replied, "The police informants made too much noise during the gunfight, so when they were stopped by the Japanese police, they proved their identities..."
Chianti jumped up: "What about Gin? Is Gin also an FBI agent?!"
The impatient tone suggested that he was eagerly anticipating sending her a mission to kill Gin.
Rum's voice was rational: "No, that's not certain yet."
That being said, without a definitive denial, this ambiguous wording is enough to show that Rum's trust in Gin is not what it used to be.
Chianti was quite annoyed: "How many times has Botnis said that Ray is an undercover agent, and none of you believed him? Now that Ray is indeed an undercover agent, why don't you believe all of his points about Ray being similar to Gin and Gin investigating his own people? Are you waiting to be proven wrong later?!"
“After all, Potts used to be a complete brute force…” Scotland tried to dissuade people from trusting Usakata Saiki too much.
"Pah!"
Chianti, who hadn't been accused of being an undercover agent by Bo Yezaki, stood up straight, feeling that she was the most qualified person to speak: "Your exhaustive method even got the organization of origin right? If it's the FBI, it really is the FBI! If it were just a random guess, what would the probability be!"
Everyone: "………………"
Cohen, who had also never been accused of being an undercover agent and was personally recruited by Usui Saiki, and could be considered part of Usui Saiki's faction, couldn't help but speak up: "If Potniss is right, then everyone here except the two of us is probably suspicious..."
After several days of reflection, Vodka, who could quickly recover from such shocking intelligence, also joined the battle.
"You can't say that. It feels like when Potts accused someone of being an undercover agent, he was actually mixing in his own biases. He'd say whoever he argued with was an undercover agent... Most importantly, when he said Rye was an FBI agent, it was right after Rye was hit by Miyano Akemi's car. He rushed to the hospital, saw her, and immediately assumed she was an FBI agent... Well, if you insist that he can tell who's an undercover agent at a glance, it's not entirely impossible, but to say he can tell which organization someone belongs to at a glance, doesn't that seem a bit far-fetched?"
Vodka tried his best to downplay the contributions of Ubuya Saiki.
"I've asked him several times, and his reasons are basically 'fortune telling,' 'I could tell at a glance,' 'I dreamed about it'... Do you really think that's reliable? If he's so confident, why doesn't he give a reason? So he's definitely just talking nonsense! Honestly, it's no use having Potts come to a meeting; he definitely won't say more than I do!"
Bourbon listened absentmindedly to Vodka's explanation, feeling that with Usoppō Saiki absent today, his importance had suddenly diminished.
...But it doesn't matter. The suspicious Rum has already investigated everyone, and now he can finally find some time to ask the police.
The FBI agents are currently with the Japanese Public Security Bureau, and their superiors are communicating about the situation.
Was Rye forced into rebellion, or was he originally an FBI agent, and after Usui Saiki guessed his identity, did he test or communicate with him...?
He'll find out soon.
I'm a little worried that I can't get in touch with Usaku Saiki at this time... I don't think the first thing Lai would do after running away is to take revenge on Usaku Saiki, right?
Think of the torture that Usoppō Saiki inflicted on Lai, and this failed undercover mission...
He knew that Usakabe Saiki was his senior's adopted son, and sometimes he hated Usakabe Saiki so much that his teeth itched. If Lai... if Lai wanted revenge...
Bourbon, unusually, began to worry about Usaku Saiki.
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Chianti and Cohen, now they have a say: We were never accused of being undercover agents! Disgusting Gin!
Vodka: Scotland is the most clear-headed person in the organization. I need to have more contact with Scotland in the future.
.
The next chapter will cover the Public Security Bureau, Shuichi Akai, and the FBI.
Rei Furuya won't meet Shuichi Akai directly; instead, he'll infiltrate through a colleague in the Public Security Bureau. Caution is still very important.
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